Document text
Janet Smith
1216 East Control Avenue
Albuquerque, Nes Mamie*
Interviews on .,tigeneMAR 22 193"4
Manlove Rhodes
About 3,400 words.
hint ML. OSTle
"4. rim, I knew Gone Rhodes well," II. Ostia answered.
"Guess I hardly ever knew anybody any better than I did (Mn..
';it down."
Gore in.
he walked over to a shelf and took down a photogftph of a
girl. ron the back of the frame she removed *amid 2lotures, sorted
them over, and handed me two of them. tao was an old fashioned
photograph in bad oondltion,-ma piature of a boy with a homy determined
mouth tightly shut, closely oropped hairs direst eyes, a slightly doriant
air about him. The ether was a snapsiot of a man standing in profile
beside a hero.. Hs more riding breeches, and a Stoteon hat. His
reaturOs were 01~4 outlined agaInst the horses dark nook.ethe nos.
aquiline, the shin definite. he had the slightly protruding *lig about
the abdomens unusual in a opeboys of a man of forty or thereabout.
"That old photograph is a picture of Ana when he was nineteen,"
vrs. (Jetts told me. "lie get mixod up In some kind of a political serape,
and somebody threw bile down a well. Is scalp was all torn and laeerated
and they bad to out his hcir off short. It whs just growing out in that
pieturs."
*What was the serape about?" 1 askod oariously.
"I don't remember, and 1 don't know as they ever did find out
who v.a responsibls for throwing him down that well. I know Clone was a
ispOblisan but that's all that I can bell about it now."
"I knew Gene for a good many years, Imp. Ostie went on. "His
father was aent on the nssealero Indian ResorvatIon, and my father was
tl.s blacksmith there. Gene ws about seventeen or eighteen when 1 first
know him. fie was born in :4obrasks. Us father's name was Hinman and
ho had been a sonator from :4braska. is mother's name was Julia. They
had a ranch in the .nit madroa's and I believe cams to 'Aim :Amino two or
three yours Won, I knew them. Anyhow, I know Gene was born in Uebraska
and so was his little stator ilelon...14,11is we °ailed her. She was only
a little „;irl when I first knew them so thoy couldn't have been in New
voxico many years before that.
When Irs. thodos flooded something done she used to mond for
ne to come over und help her. That's how T got to know Gene so well.
His mother was a politioian, always writing and going to Washington and
doing things like that. A* was a moddlesome kind of woman, always
milting to soneboriy, telling this and telling that. She Ivs just
meddlesome„ that's all there is to it, and she usually had hor family in
hot eater of son* kind. I liked her, though. The we eplenow eempeny.
Ahodos was a quiet, serious mwi. ]ie was a thoroughly
honest man too, r. Mods' was. '.10 was Gene for that matter. I know
the "ring" at Las :..46uesos was always trying to *got' kr. Ahodssr %Miami
Aley.aphs dial not so long ago.mmus a cattle man and politician, and he
was the head of the ring. They didalt like it beoauso Mr. Rhodes wouldn't
aeoopt poor beef from them, and tried to cause him a lot of trouble.
Colonel ?ountain,..tho one who was murdsred, you remember, and they never
found his body...was an honest man too and was &Ivey& on lhodes' side.
The ring" never did sues:load in running Mr. hodes out though. rie stayed
there until he was retired on t pension. 1 believe Gene got along better
with his father than his mothor. :hough his mother was very fond of him,
too. he always oallad him Genie.
"lene couldn't ever talk just ri-ht....a kind of a lisp. I don't
111.301,
know as you would call it a lisp either, but he couldn't pronouns*
'Ass he would say instead of Abodes. There were other words ho couldn't
y too which =ado it difficult for some people to understand him. Although
to me..1 understood him perfectly. Ione wont to °Alegi' in 3an Jose,
CrAifornia. me of his oollego friends was visiting him one time, an he
told me that when the boys askod 3eno 'tat his name was, be told than
:Algona anlovs, 'Odes'. They all called him 'Odes' until finally helmet*
his name on a piece of paper and handed it to this boy and said, 'Hors,
toll toms fellows what wr naafi is'."
re. Ostia settled back in her rocking chair. I suppose you
want to buss nor. about how he looked than you can see in that photograph.
La wasn't a bad looking bor.-not good looking either. Bin forehead was
always a little too protruding for his other features. H had blue eyes
and light hair and a reddish rum. He was a little above medium heiflit„
not rushy, rather slemder. 1 don't remember mooing lone ems in anyting
but moccasins. Ao always war, a brown suit, 40010 coarse brown goods with
a big plaid. I never saw him with good clothees 2vn'thing wold do. I
don't know how many shirts 1 patched for that boy. I remembers too, I
mad* a harness for him to wear his gun under his shirt. 4 always seemed
to think that people didn't lilts him, and that somebody was Lping to
shoot him or something.
"gene was always kind of riatiriag. Ho lived at the M.scalene
agonoy for more than sight years, and I don't believe he ever had mars
than a bowing acquaintance with a few of the girls. Ho was no good at
all as a mixer. s always seemed to feel that people didn't like him.
And I guess they didn't very well. He was too far above the peoplo that
we had at that time. His mind was too good for our class of people.
xoept for his wife, I never knew bin to have any women friends exempt
the two :20.ssad girls in "4ossilla Park. I remember once those two girls
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and 4nlove cousin of his stayed at our house for two weeks and they
all went fishing a lot. DLit except for them 2 don't think he was friends
with any ;1261s. I never heard him speak nuoh of nen friends either, except
for one fellow, Charles Lummis.
Ammo always had a kind of gloomy outlook on life. He hardly
ever laughed* and I don't know as I ever did hear him tell a joke. lie
always liked sad things, sad poetry and sad sons. ne thing he loved,
and that was to sing. .stat it was always some kind of a sad song. 1
remember he used to oome over to my house. Maybe we'd be making bread,
my sister and I. 4ut Gene would oall to my sister, 'Come one you and
Bellat 1 want you to sing La lolindrina for me'. And nothing would do
but we have to leave our dough and Game into the parlor where the organ
was and sing songs. When Gene got a notion to hear something, he was
gin g to have it. The words to that song were not the same as the words
they sing to la 44indrina now. It was something about a wan who would
never see the shores of spain again. Nunca mast mince was to ve'.
very sad song, and lone loved it.
lie was really the strangeet boy. Lie would go from one thing
to another -.just that ohangeable. 4e used to ride horseback together,
and eometimes Gene wald be telling me a story and suddenly burst out
crying, for no reason that I sould see. Just that ohangeable. 1,4 would
oome over to our house and sit dawn by himself and maybe come into
the room and there he'd be crying. He'd cry and cry and when I'd ask
hin what was the matter he'd just say 'I'm so miserable, so unhappy'.
But 2 !lever Insew why. His mother always said it was because eh, was
lonely and sad before he was born. Yaybe that was the reason. nyhow,
I never could lee any real reason for his being that way.
"Of course, Ione was always scribbling. While others were
talking in a room he was scribhlinc, something most of the tine. Alen I
know him he used to write poetry more thin prose. His poems were always
about something sad. I remember oneft-Iet's see —these poems are at home
in Tueumeari with SOMO letters from him in a reoeipt box. I wrote the
boys to send them, but they never did. well, anyhow, I remember the
last line of one of the:awes that death is far more kind than love or
life'. All of them were along that line.
"Before he left New Mexico Gene had quite a number of things
published in a magasine called 'Out rest'. I remember he brought that
paper over to me and wanted me to subscribe to it, because he said he was
going to write for it. I did, but I never had much faith that Gene would
ever publish anything much.
GQ,ne was usually considered a fool by everybody,
poor fellow. I never thought he was a fool but he did seem to be awfully
erratic.
I1. would do the orasiest things of any fellow I ever knew.
I remember once he 'mote me a letter at midnight from the top of a mountain
peak. It was the peak where he is buried. They *all it Rhodes Peak now.
I had asked him to find the words to a verse by Arse Heiman for es. He
lots on his way from Las emcee to the San Andrea's and was camping for
the night on the top of that peak when he sat down and wrote me a letter
enclosing the poem I had wanted. I remember he said in that letter that
there was not a lonelier eon in the world than he was on the top of that
mountain peak at midnight, but that nowhere else did he feel so near to
God, Or NatJre, I guess he must have said Nature instead of God, Gene
wasn't a Christian, Anyhow I never knew him to go to °birch.
"Another thing about Genes he vas a great gambler. I guess that
was the only ting Gen. did that 1 didn't think was just right. I never
did see him drink, but they used to say if he sat down to a gambling table,
there was no dragging him away. Even in gambling though, he was always
honest. man told me once that he was a good card player, but the reason
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he didn't make a success at gambling was bemuse he never mould do anything
the least bit dishonest."
I asked Uri. Ostia if she knew why abodes left Aew ,exieo for
the East,
"64 married the school teacher in Tularosa," she answered.
"She was from New York state and she minted to go back Bast."
"Didn't he get into trouble of some kind'?" I persisted.
Yrs. Ostia looked at me sharply. "You mean something dishonest/
Nobody could make me believe that Gene was not a distinctly honest man.
He alloys was, If he didn't cheat at cards he certainly wouldn't demob
in the cattle business, or in any other may. 74, was always getting into
a fuss over gambling things, debts and tlings like that, but I know he
never did anything dishonest.
"I remember three days before he left liew ,exioo he eawe to
our house for dinner, he and his wife and his mother. Like usual, he
had a gloomy look. is I *ay he always had a gloomy outlook on life,
but I'm sure there was nothing special bothering him. If there had been
I would have known it.
"That was the only time I ever see his wife. 6he was a big
woman, rather pretty too. inst she was a very proud woman. I remember
when Gene came in he kissed me the same as he always did, and he said,
'Bella, I'm going to leave 40, Yoxico in three days, and I want some of
that good tapioca ?udding you make, because I may never et any more of
it.' 7 told him I didn't have any tapioca in the house, and he said,
'-141.1, we'll excuse you to get some then.' Gene was always fond of
tapioca pudding, no hated green peas. I remember one day Mr. ioosa was
reading a book by Rhodes, ani he looked upandAkeked me if I knew any kind
of food that Eugene Rhodes espeoially disliked. Right away I said 'green
peas'. knd it was green peas he had written about in that book. To get
bac, to the last timeI tv him though, after clinker we all went for a
walk around the sawmill. nd all that time and during dinner I don't
think his wife ever said a word. I guess she thought he vas too free
with us poor people and she didn't like it.
"That vas in 1904 that he let mow 14xieo and I never did sow
him again. onle years after that I sew something about him in the paper,
and wrote to him. a I said he had some stories pUblished in 'Out West'
before he left and he had the manuscript of that story, Paso For Aqui,
but I never did expect him to get much published or amount to anything.
',lion 1 sem that in the paper 1 vas glad he had made a r.ioonse, and I
wrote him oars of his puhll.shors„ and told him that there was still
somebody in New ::exico who rimembered him as 'dear lens Rhodes'. He
answered right back, !is tAd me that his oldest son vas named 'Cray
Alen. lewcy 1lsnma, the name of a song he was very rand of and we used
to sing it together. It was supposed to be Ling by a woman who said that
if she had been able to marry her true love she would have had a son
*rattled under the wildwood tree. uer love WS named E.roy
"i2any years later he wrote me again tram ea Yorke said
he wanted to have horse and a cow and live the may he used to in New
ioxioo, Art he couldn't make it work out very well. Es told we too that
his nerves were all shot, and the reason was llat one of his evAas had
been killed in the rim!".
"The next time I heard Prom him he was back in 'i're mexiec. „Foe
wrote me from la !,Ais that he had oome back to get color for some of his
stories. ,ftor that he left for jAifornia.'
rs. Ostia began rocking again and it seemed that her story
was ended. Remembering the introduction to The Trusty Knaves, 1 asked
her if Rhodes liked eats.
The smiled and said that he certa:nly liked her oat. 'lilt, was
-8.
always juiring up from the table to give that oat something to sat. Ai
didn't have a piano in our houses but we had an organ. :ihen Gene would
play that organ the oat would some running from wherever ha might be and
walk up and down in front of the organ dragging his tail on the floor.
I always thought that eat believed it was his tail that nada the noise.
4whow, ehemever Gene would start pumping the organs in twe minutes the
eat would be right there, prancing up and downs and dragging his tail.
The oat was ealled Antonio Joseph. I taught school in Lincoln for awhile,
and I took a kitten and a littlo dog sway from some children who were
abusing them. I named the oat Antonio Joseph and tho dog Catron. They
were the two big political figures in the State at that time. Both the
pat and the dog *loaned too week and bedraggled to live longs and I said
that whichever one died firsts the man for whoa he was named would be
defeated. On election day the little dog Cation died, and Catron was
defeated. When I tohk the cat home and showed him to Rhodes he said,
'I like the eat all rights but I don't think much of his polities.'
Rhodes vas boarding at our house at the time. It was after his mother
and father had loft tho reservation. One morning I was *limping latas
and Gene woke ma calling at the foot of the stairs, 'Bella, Bella', he
called. 'Hurry and get up. imtonio Joseph is Joel*. She's had kittens.'
That was one of tho few tines I ever hear him say anything funny, and even
then he didn't smile.
"Gene had a horse, tog, that he was very fond of. Doore was
his name and Docre was a mean animal. But hodes thought the world of
him. Doors mould throw him. lodes wasn't a good riders and Poore knew
It. That horse would dump him about every days but Gene would stay with
it. I've seen him ride a bronco and be thrown as much am three tines,
and get up and ride him again."
Ais. Ostia stopped again, and I asked her if she knew what kind_
of books tthodos had been *specially interested in.
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"its people didn't have many book's" she said. "We didn't
either. ioople didn't have so many books in those days. i3ut I do
remember that he often told we the stories of Oakespeare's plays."
I remarked that I had heard that Modes hated the aotual task
of writini;, that he even said he mould never touch a pen or pencil agein
if he oould think of any other way to earn a living.
"Ile might have thought that," :4'irs. Ostia answered. "iiut he
seildn't have itta froraieriting. le was always writing. Then other
people in the room would be talking and fooling, Gene would be over in
some corner with a pencil, soribbling. I always wondered eby he didn't
write about the Indian people. because he was very much interested in
them, and was always taking notes."
realised suddenly that it was considerably past leach time
and rose to go. Al I was pulling on my gloves, r.. ::Stic said, "Cue
thing about 3ene Rhodos, he would stop anything apytime to help a person
out. o!toe to had a di htheria epidemic on the reservation. There was
no hospital, no doctor even, and everybody was afraid to go near the
people who had it. gene sat up night after night with the 3heriff's
little boy who died of it. .A.:14 Jena and my father laid out the little
body, made the cella, and lowered it nto the grave. The only people
at the funeral were Otme and my father and my sister and I. Right
children in one Indian family died, one after the other, and every
=owning lone stopped by to bring them miter and see if they needed
anythinc. Toward the end of the epidemic the government sent a dootor,
a colored man. Lie was a good doctor and a fine gentleman, and we used
to invite him and his wife to our house. But all the other white folks
on the reservation would out them. JI;moept leme...he used to come over to
our house often and play cards with them. I guess that's all I can think
of t tell you W.)out gene right now. I didn't know any of the important
things about him, but I used to know him pretty moll. Maybe if you some
back some other day think of some more things."
Mrs. della Ostio,
104 -Nilsen Avenue,
Albuquerque,
Now M0400.
AgOt 66 years.